Apparatus for recording characters, preferably code characters on a carrier

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for recording characters, such as code characters, upon a magnetizable carrier which includes transmission wheels coupling setting members with character wheels having teeth provided with individual characters. An actuator is manually operated to align selected characters. The magnetizable carrier is moved by an arm operated by the actuator to bring it in contact with the aligned characters.

[ Mar. 25, 1975 United States Patent [191 Soderstrom et al.

Lagerquistnm... 360/125 360/4 APPARATUS FOR RECORDING CHARACTERS,PREFERABLY CODE CHARACTERS ON A CARRIER Benson et a1 Inventors:GillGustav Soderstrom, Stockholm;

Nils Evert Johan Stahl, Stocksund, both of Sweden PrimaryExaminer-Terrell W. Fears Assistant Examiner-Jay P. Lucas [73] Assignee:AB Almex, Stockholm, Sweden Attorney, Agent, or FirmRichard & GeierFiled: Sept. 4, 1973 Appl. No.: 393,877

ABSTRACT An apparatus for recording characters, such as code characters,upon a magnetizable carrier which includes transmission wheels couplingsetting members with character wheels having teeth provided withindividual characters. An actuator is manually operated to alignselected characters. The magnetizable carrier is moved by an armoperated by the actuator to bring it in contact with the alignedcharacters.

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[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 346/74 MP 3 Claims, 3Drawing Figures APPARATUS FOR RECORDING CHARACTERS, PREFERABLY CODECHARACTERS ON A I CARRIER This invention relates to an apparatus adaptedto record characters, preferably code characters, on a magnetizablecarrier, comprising setting members accessible from outside which viatransmissions coact with adjustable code character wheels actuable by amagnetic circuit and consisting of a plurality of rotatable discs ofmagnetic material, which discs are of toothet wheel design with eachtooth top forming a separate code character.

The invention has as its object to obtain a product, which on the basisaf known constructions is cheap to manufacture and ensures that theinformation recorded on the magnetizable carrier by means of the codeWheel is both intense and linear.

This object is achieved according to the invention in that the codewheels are arranged stationary and supported on an axle consisting of apermanent magnet with constant flow, that means are provided which uponactuation of the drive means in a first step forcibly linearize set codecharacters, and means which in a subsequent step forcibly move themagnetizable carrier into contact with the surfaces of the set codecharacters of the wheels.

At a suitable embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention, atwhich the code wheels are discs formed like toothed wheels of a magneticmaterial, with stationary spacer discs of non-magnetic material mountedtherebetween, transmission wheels indirectly actuable by the settingmembers mesh with the tooth gaps of the code wheels.

According to a further characterizing feature, the transmission wheelsare tooth-shaped discs corresponding in number at least to the number ofcode characters and arranged in about the same horizontal plane as thecode character wheels. For making the recording on the carrier apparent,the code character wheels comprise surfaces carrying code characters.The number of said surfaces exceeds the number of setting members, andthe excess code characteris mark the end of a recorded information and,respectively, the beginning of the subsequent recording. When themagnetizable carrier is of conventional magnetic tape, which is ofrelatively small width, it is essential for a subsequent undisturbedreading that the recorded characters are not off set relative eachother, but are located substantially in the same horizontal plane. Thisis achieved by means of an arm extending transversely to the codecharacter wheel and supported on both sides, which arm upon actuation ofthe drive means forcibly enters between the tooth gaps ofthe codecharacter wheel and entirely linearizes its tooth tops thereby renderingpossible an undisturbed subsequent reading-off of the carrier.

Other characterizing features of the invention become evident from thefollowing description of an embodiment, reference being made therein tothe accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 shows in a perspective way aportion of the front side of a recording apparatus comprising the deviceaccording to the invention.

FIG. 2 shows code character wheels and transmission wheels coactingtherewith and the magnetizable carrier in a different view.

FIG. 3 is a section substantially along the line III III in FIG. 1.

OPERATION IN GENERAL In FIGS. 1 and 3, the reference number 10designates the casing ofa recording apparatus, for example acashregister or any other apparatus with recording function. In theembodiment shown, a plurality of setting members 11 are movable along acurved line (FIG. 3). Each of said setting members 11 actuates uponreadjustment transmission wheels 12 and I3 coacting with each other anddisposed on axles I4 and, respectively, 15. The axle I5 is a telescopicaxle (FIG. 3) and connected at one end to transmission wheels 16, whichaccording to a known technique comprise a plurality of tightly adjacenttoothed wheels 16. The object of these wheels is to transmit theinformation determined by the setting members 11 to code characterwheels 17 disposed in substantially the same horizontal plane. Eachseparate toothed wheel coacts in a manner known per se with a definitesetting member 11. The code character wheel in its turn is intended totransmit transactions made by means of the setting members 11 to amagnetizable carrier 18 (FIG. 2), for example in the form of a magnetictape adapted to be wound up on coils 18'. In the embodiment shown, thedrive means is an arm 19 supported on an axle 30 (FIG. 3). Uponactuation of said arm the recording cycle will take place in the manneras described below in greater detail in conjunction with a more detailedreport on the elements comprised in the apparatus and being the subjectmatter of this invention.

CODE CHARACTER WI-IEEL The code character wheel generally designated by17 comprises a plurality of rotatable discs 17 of magnetizable material.The discs are designed like toothed wheels, each tooth top forming aseparate code character. The code character discs are spaced apart bystationary, preferably non-magnetizable discs 19 (FIG. 2). Said codecharacter discs, comprising the separately rotatable discs 17' as wellas the spacer discs 19, are disposed on a stationary central axle 20,which consists of or is connected to a permanent magnet delivering aconstant flow. This flow is distributed uniformly over the code wheel,as the axle 20 forms a central suspension means, i.e. the separatetoothed discs are disposed concentrically on said axle 20. The number oftooth tops carrying code characteris is chosen according to the desireddifferent recording types, and the number of separate code charactertoothed wheels exceeds the number of setting members. The excess codecharacter disc or discs are therey utilized to mark the end of acompleted recording cycle and, respectively, the beginning of thesubsequent recording. The separate toothed discs of the transmissionwheels are adapted to coact one by one with the tooth gaps of precedingcode character wheels, and the code character wheels and trans missionwheels lie substantially in the same horizontal plane. thereby Thefunction of the apparatus described becomes evident from FIG. 3 and canbe described as follows:

The setting members having been actuated in the desired way, the codewheels 17 have been actuated in the manner described and thereby havebeen set. Upon idly on the axle 30, in a first phase a cam wheel 21disposedon the axle 30 will actuate one end ofa yoke having two parallelarms 22, 23 (FIG. 1), which at the other end are connected by an arm 24so adapted and located, that it drops into the tooth gaps of the codewheel and forcibly causes the individual toothed wheels to assume apractically entirely linear direction. This implies that all tooth topswill be eligned with each other. Upon the continued actuation of thedrive means, in a second phase a further cam wheel 25 mounted on theaxle will be caused to actuate one end of a spring-loaded arm 26, theother end of which engages with the casing of the magnetizable carrier18 and lifts up the carrier 18 into contact with the linerized codecharacters on the code wheel.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for recording characters, such as code characters, on amagnetizable carrier, comprising a series of manually operable settingmembers for selecting characters to be recorded on said carrier andarranged side by side, a series of independently rotatable toothedcharacter wheels of a magnetizable material arranged side by side, anindividual character being arranged upon the top of each tooth, movementtransmission selected character tooth in a ready-to-record positionrelative to said carrier, a permanent magnet shaft with a constantmagnetic flow rotatably supporting said character wheels, a commonmanually operable actuator, means comprising an aligning rod cooperatingwith the tooth gaps of said character weels and operable upon actuationof said actuator to align all selected characters of the characterwheels mutually as well as in relation to said carrier, and meansoperable upon further actuation of the actuator to move said carrierinto contact with said aligned characters.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising spacer discs of anon-magnetic material between the individual character wheels andtransmission wheels having teeth meshing with the tooth gaps of saidcharacter wheels.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of characterwheels exceeds the number of setting members, the excess wheels beingused for marking the end and the beginning of a recorded information.

1. Apparatus for recording characters, such as code characters, on amagnetizable carrier, comprising a series of manually operable settingmembers for selecting characters to be recorded on said carrier andarranged side by side, a series of independently rotatable toothedcharacter wheels of a magnetizable material arranged side by side, anindividual character being arranged upon the top of each tooth, movementtransmission wheels mechanically coupling each setting member with acorresponding character wheel for setting the selected character toothin a ready-to-record position relative to said carrier, a permanentmagnet shaft with a constant magnetic flow rotatably supporting saidcharacter wheels, a common manually operable actuator, means comprisingan aligning rod cooperating with the tooth gaps of said character weelsand operable upon actuation of said actuator to align all selectedcharacters of the character wheels mutually as well as in relation tosaid carrier, and means operable upon further actuation of the actuatorto move said carrier into contact with said aligned characters. 2.Apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising spacer discs of anon-magnetic material between the individual character wheels andtransmission wheels having teeth meshing with the tooth gaps of saidcharacter wheels.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the numberof character wheels exceeds the number of setting members, the excesswheels being used for marking the end and the beginning of a recordedinformation.